System and method for processing information hierarchy management

ABSTRACT

In general, embodiments described herein relate to methods and systems for reorganizing processing information hierarchies to remove duplicative and/or redundant portions of a processing information hierarchy such that they, for example, require fewer resources of the network devices on which they are stored.

BACKGROUND

Network devices may provide traffic management services to managenetwork traffic. The traffic management services may include receivingnetwork data units and processing the network data units to destinationdevices. When processing such network data units, the network devicesmay send the network data units to any number of intermediary networkdevices before the forwarded network data units are received by thedestination devices.

SUMMARY

In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a network device,comprising a hardware component, and a processing information hierarchymanager to: obtain a processing information hierarchy, make adetermination that the processing information hierarchy comprises aduplication or a redundancy, reorganize the processing informationhierarchy based on the determination to obtain a reorganized processinginformation hierarchy, and program the processing information hierarchyinto the hardware component.

In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a method, thatcomprises obtaining a processing information hierarchy, making adetermination that the processing information hierarchy comprises aduplication or a redundancy, reorganizing the processing informationhierarchy based on the determination to obtain a reorganized processinginformation hierarchy and programming the processing informationhierarchy into the hardware component.

In general, in one aspect, the non-transitory computer readable mediumcomprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform amethod, the method that comprises a processing information hierarchy,making a determination that the processing information hierarchycomprises a duplication or a redundancy, reorganizing the processinginformation hierarchy based on the determination to obtain a reorganizedprocessing information hierarchy, and programming the processinginformation hierarchy into the hardware component.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Certain embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. However, the accompanying drawings illustrate only certainaspects or implementations of the embodiments by way of example and arenot meant to limit the scope of the claims.

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an example system in accordance with one ormore embodiments disclosed herein.

FIGS. 2.1-2.2 show diagrams of an example processing informationhierarchy in accordance with one or more embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a method that may be used to program ahardware component in accordance with one or more embodiments disclosedherein.

FIGS. 4.1-4.2 show diagrams of an example Processing InformationHierarchy as it is deduplicated and reorganized.

FIGS. 5.1-5.2 show diagrams of an example processing informationhierarchy as it is deduplicated and reorganized.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Specific embodiments will now be described with reference to theaccompanying figures. In the following description, numerous details areset forth as examples. It will be understood by those skilled in theart, and having the benefit of this Detailed Description, which one ormore embodiments described herein may be practiced without thesespecific details and that numerous variations or modifications may bepossible without departing from the scope of the embodiments. Certaindetails known to those of ordinary skill in the art may be omitted toavoid obscuring the description.

In the following description of the figures, any component describedwith regard to a figure, in various embodiments, may be equivalent toone or more like-named components shown and/or described with regard toany other figure. For brevity, descriptions of these components may notbe repeated with regard to each figure. Thus, each and every embodimentof the components of each figure is incorporated by reference andassumed to be optionally present within every other figure having one ormore like-named components. Additionally, in accordance with variousembodiments described herein, any description of the components of afigure is to be interpreted as an optional embodiment, which may beimplemented in addition to, in conjunction with, or in place of theembodiments described with regard to a corresponding like-namedcomponent in any other figure.

Throughout the application, ordinal numbers (e.g., first, second, third,etc.) may be used as an adjective for an element (i.e., any noun in theapplication). The use of ordinal numbers is not to imply or create anyparticular ordering of the elements nor to limit any element to beingonly a single element unless expressly disclosed, such as by the use ofthe terms “before”, “after”, “single”, and other such terminology.Rather, the use of ordinal numbers is to distinguish between theelements. By way of an example, a first element is distinct from asecond element, and the first element may encompass more than oneelement and succeed (or precede) the second element in an ordering ofelements.

As used herein, the phrase operatively connected, or operativeconnection, means that there exists between elements/components/devicesa direct or indirect connection that allows the elements to interactwith one another in some way. For example, the phrase ‘operativelyconnected’ may refer to any direct (e.g., wired directly between twodevices or components) or indirect (e.g., wired and/or wirelessconnections between any number of devices or components connecting theoperatively connected devices) connection. Thus, any path through whichinformation may travel may be considered an operative connection.

In general, embodiments described herein relate to methods and systemsfor reorganizing processing information hierarchies to removeduplicative and/or redundant portions of a processing informationhierarchy such that they, for example, require fewer resources of thenetwork devices on which they are stored. Specifically, in one or moreembodiments, obtained processing information hierarchies are assessed todetermine whether duplications or redundancies are included in thehierarchies. A duplication may be any identical portions of two or moreprocessing paths (see e.g., FIGS. 2.1-2.2). A redundant portion may beany portion of a given processing path that does not need to beperformed. See e.g., FIGS. 5.1-5.2. In one or more embodiments, theprocessing information hierarchies are re-organized by consolidating oneor more duplications and/or removing one or more redundant portions.

FIG. 1 shows a network device in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein. As shown in FIG. 1, the network device (100) includesa processing information hierarchy provider (102), a processinginformation hierarchy manager (104), a processing information hierarchydata repository (106), and at least one hardware component (108). Ahardware component (108) may include a programmed processing informationhierarchy (110). Each of these components is described below.

In one or more embodiments, a network device (100) is a physical devicethat includes and/or is operatively connected to persistent storage (notshown), memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM)) (not shown), one ormore processor(s) (e.g., integrated circuits) (not shown), and at leastone physical network interface (not shown), which may also be referredto as a port. Examples of a network device (100) include, but are notlimited to, a network switch, a router, a multilayer switch, a fiberchannel device, an InfiniBand® device, etc. A network device (100) isnot limited to the aforementioned specific examples.

In one or more embodiments, a network device (100) includesfunctionality to receive network traffic data units (e.g., frames,packets, tunneling protocol frames, etc.) at any of the physical networkinterfaces (i.e., ports) of the network device (100) and to process thenetwork traffic data units. In one or more embodiments, processing anetwork traffic data unit includes, but is not limited to, a series ofone or more table lookups (e.g., longest prefix match (LPM) lookups,processing information lookups, etc.) and corresponding actions (e.g.,forward from a certain egress port, add a labeling protocol header,rewrite a destination address, encapsulate, etc.). Such a series oflookups and corresponding actions may be referred to as a pipeline.Examples of pipeline processing include, but are not limited to,performing a lookup to determine: (i) whether to take a security action(e.g., drop the network traffic data unit); (ii) whether to mirror thenetwork traffic data unit; and/or (iii) how to route/forward the networktraffic data unit in order to transmit the network traffic data unitfrom an interface of the network device (100). One or more actions to betaken with regards to a received network traffic data unit may beobtained by a network device based on the network traffic data unitbeing recognized as falling within a processing information hierarchyobject, which may have one or more associated actions and/or items ofinformation relevant to processing the network traffic data unit (e.g.,label switched path protocol actions, multipath information, egressinterface information, etc.). Additional details about the processinginformation hierarchy objects are provided, e.g., in FIGS. 2.1-2.2.

In one or more embodiments, a network device also includes and/or isoperatively connected to device storage and/or device memory (i.e.,non-transitory computer readable mediums) storing software and/orfirmware.

Such software and/or firmware may include instructions which, whenexecuted by the one or more processors (not shown) of a network device(100), cause the one or more processors to perform operations inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

The software instructions may be in the form of computer readableprogram code to perform embodiments described herein, and may be stored,in whole or in part, temporarily or permanently, on a non-transitorycomputer readable medium such as a CD, DVD, storage device, a diskette,a tape, flash memory, physical memory, or any other non-transitorycomputer readable medium.

In one or more embodiments, the network device (100) is part of anetwork (not shown). A network may refer to an entire network or anyportion thereof (e.g., a logical portion of the devices within atopology of devices). A network may include a datacenter network, a widearea network, a local area network, a wireless network, a cellular phonenetwork, or any other suitable network that facilitates the exchange ofinformation from one part of the network to another. In one or moreembodiments, the network may be coupled with or overlap, at least inpart, with the Internet.

In one or more embodiments, a network includes a collection of one ormore network devices (e.g., network device (100)) that facilitatenetwork connectivity for one or more operatively connected devices(e.g., computing devices, data storage devices, other network devices,etc.). In one or more embodiments, the network device (100) and otherdevices within the network (not shown) are arranged in a networktopology (not shown). In one or more embodiments, a network topology isan arrangement of various elements of a network.

In one or more embodiments, a computing device is any device or any setof devices capable of electronically processing instructions and mayinclude, but is not limited to, any of the following: one or moreprocessors (not shown), memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM)) (notshown), input and output device(s)(not shown), persistent storage (notshown), one or more physical interfaces (e.g., network ports) (notshown), any number of other hardware components (not shown) or anycombination thereof. Examples of computing devices include, but are notlimited to, a server (e.g., a blade-server in a blade-server chassis, arack server in a rack, etc.), a desktop computer, a mobile device (e.g.,laptop computer, smart phone, personal digital assistant, tabletcomputer and/or any other mobile computing device), a network device(e.g., switch, router, multi-layer switch, etc.) such as that describedabove and below, a virtual machine, and/or any other type of computingdevice with the aforementioned requirements.

In one or more embodiments, a network device (100) includes and/or isoperatively connected to a processing information hierarchy provider(102). In one or more embodiments, a processing information hierarchyprovider (102) is hardware (e.g., circuitry) and/or a combination ofhardware and software that includes functionality including, but notlimited to, providing a processing information hierarchy. In one or moreembodiments, a processing information hierarchy includes a set ofprocessing information hierarchy objects. A processing informationhierarchy object may include information relating to actions to beperformed upon receipt of a network traffic data unit having one or morecharacteristics (e.g., destination address, source address, etc.) thatidentify the network traffic data unit as being within a processinginformation hierarchy object. Such information/actions may include, butare not limited to: identification of an egress interface out of whichthe network traffic data unit is to be forwarded to a next-hop device;adding a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) label; rewriting source ordestination media access control (MAC) header information; encapsulatingthe network traffic data unit in accordance with a tunneling protocol(e.g., Virtual eXtensible Local Area Network (VXLAN)) header; etc.

Additionally, a processing information hierarchy object in a processinginformation hierarchy may include a pointer to another processinginformation hierarchy object. As used herein, the term ‘pointer’ mayrefer to any type of information in a processing information hierarchyobject identifying another processing information hierarchy object (or aportion of the processing information hierarchy object). The pointer maysignify that a link (or relationship) exists between the two processinginformation hierarchy objects.

In one or more embodiments, a processing information hierarchy objectthat includes identifying information for a given processing informationhierarchy object and a pointer to another processing informationhierarchy object adds a level of indirection to a processing informationhierarchy. A chain of such entries, in which one processing informationhierarchy object points to another processing information hierarchyobject, which points to another processing information hierarchy object,etc., may have a number of levels of indirection. A processinginformation hierarchy may include any number of levels of indirection.

In one or more embodiments, a processing information hierarchy provider(102) may be platform agnostic, meaning that the processing informationhierarchy provider (102) may not need to take into account thecapabilities of the underlying hardware into which a processinginformation hierarchy is to be programmed. Accordingly, in one or moreembodiments, a processing information hierarchy provider (102) mayprovide any processing information hierarchy that is deemed the mostdesirable based on any parameters available to the processinginformation hierarchy provider (102). The resulting processinginformation hierarchy may include any number of levels of indirectionand/or be of any size (i.e., include any number of processinginformation hierarchy objects).

In one or more embodiments, a given processing information hierarchyobject may include a pointer to another processing information hierarchyobject as well as additional information and/or actions. In one or moreembodiments, any number of higher-level processing information entriesin a processing information hierarchy may include pointers to the samelower-level processing information hierarchy object. For additionaldetails regarding an example structure of a processing informationhierarchy, refer to FIGS. 2.1-2.2.

In one or more embodiments, a processing information hierarchy provider(102) may be any type of entity that seeks to utilize a processinginformation hierarchy to perform certain functionality. For example, aprocessing information hierarchy provider (102) may be a software agentexecuting using hardware resources of a network device (100) toimplement, at least in part, the Boarder Gateway Protocol (BGP) for thenetwork device, and, as such, may generate a processing informationhierarchy to implement BGP related routing functionality on the networkdevice (100). Other examples of protocols or network implementationschemes that may use a processing information hierarchy include, but arenot limited to, MPLS, equal cost multi-path (ECMP), Open Shortest PathFirst (OSPF), etc.

In one or more embodiments, a network device (100) includes and/or isoperatively connected to a processing information hierarchy manager(104). In one or more embodiments, a processing information hierarchymanager (104) is hardware (e.g., circuitry) and/or a combination ofhardware and software that includes functionality including, but notlimited to, performing all or a portion of the method shown in FIG. 3.

In one or more embodiments, deduplicating a processing informationhierarchy refers to identifying at least two processing informationhierarchy objects that may be consolidated without impacting the utilityof the processing information hierarchy. Such identified processinginformation hierarchy objects and/or other processing informationhierarchy objects associated with the identified processing informationhierarchy objects may not be programmed into the hardware components(108), which may reduce the resources required by the hardware component(108) to utilize the reorganized processing information hierarchy.

In one or more embodiments, reorganizing a processing informationhierarchy refers to restructuring links between processing informationhierarchy objects. For example, new links may be added, existing linksmay be removed, etc. Reorganizing the processing information hierarchymay reduce the resources required by the hardware component (108) toutilize the reorganized processing information hierarchy. For example,the number of levels of indirection of a processing informationhierarchy may be reduced by reorganizing the processing informationhierarchy.

In one or more embodiments, a processing information hierarchy manager(104) is operatively connected to a processing information hierarchyprovider (102). For example, a data path may exist between a processinginformation hierarchy provider (102) and a processing informationhierarchy manager (104) that uses shared memory (not shown) as themechanism by which the processing information hierarchy manager (104)obtains a processing information hierarchy from a processing informationhierarchy provider (102). In one or more embodiments, a processinginformation hierarchy manager includes software executing on hardware ofthe network device, and logically exists within a hardware abstractionlayer such that it provides the capability of programming (or causingthe programming of) processing information hierarchies from processinginformation hierarchy providers to one or more hardware components(e.g., hardware component (108)).

In one or more embodiments, a processing information hierarchy manager(104) is operatively connected to a processing information hierarchydata repository (106). In one or more embodiments, a data repository isany type of storage unit and/or device (e.g., a file system, database,collection of tables, or any other storage mechanism) for storing data.Further, the data repository may include multiple different storageunits and/or devices. The multiple different storage units and/ordevices may or may not be of the same type or located at the samephysical site. In one or more embodiments, a processing informationhierarchy data repository (106) includes functionality to store datathat may be used by a processing information hierarchy manager (104)when performing processing information hierarchy reorganization, and/orprogramming actions.

For example, if a processing information hierarchy has previously beenreorganized, then a new structure of the reorganized processinginformation hierarchy may be stored. In such an example, if a differenthardware component requires the reorganized processing informationhierarchy to be programmed, the processing information hierarchy managermay obtain the previously stored processing information hierarchy. Theobtained processing information hierarchy may be re-used for thedifferent hardware component, thereby saving time and computational loadon the hardware of the network device.

In one or more embodiments, the processing information hierarchy manageris also operatively connected to at least one hardware component (108).In one or more embodiments, a hardware component (108) is any hardware(e.g., circuitry such as, for example, application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs)), which may include and/or be programmed by/withsoftware and/or firmware, that includes functionality related toreceiving, processing, and/or transmitting network traffic data units inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein. In one or moreembodiments, a hardware component (108) is a packet processor (e.g., anetwork chip), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or any othercomponent into which a processing information hierarchy (e.g., originaland/or reorganized) may be programmed.

In one or more embodiments, the network device (100) includes any numberof hardware components (108) (e.g., network chips, field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), etc.).

In order to perform the aforementioned functionality, a hardwarecomponent may include any number of sub-components (not shown). Suchsubcomponents may include, but are not limited to, one or moreprocessors, one or more buffers, any type or amount of storage of anytype for storing hardware tables (e.g., processing informationhierarchies). Such tables may control, at least in part, various aspectsof the operation of a network device (100), such as functionalityrelated to network traffic data unit processing, maximum transmissionunit enforcement, encapsulation/decapsulation, address rewrites, etc.Examples of storage for hardware tables may include, but are not limitedto, tertiary content addressable memory (TCAM) and static random accessmemory (SRAM). A hardware component may also include and/or beoperatively connected to any number of physical network interfaces of anetwork device (100). Such interfaces may provide a path external to thenetwork device (e.g., to other devices), and/or may be operativelyconnected to other components internal to the network device (100), andeach such interface may be an ingress and/or egress interface.

As a non-limiting example, a hardware component may be and/or mayinclude an ASIC that receives network traffic data units at an ingressport and, so long as no security policy—or MTU enforcement policyassociated with a processing information that a given network trafficdata unit is in-indicates that the network traffic data units should bedropped, determines out of which egress port on the network device (100)to forward the network traffic data units.

In one or more embodiments, a hardware component (108) includesfunctionality to support any level of indirection or up to a maximumnumber of levels of indirection in the processing information hierarchy.

In one or more embodiments, a hardware component (108) may store aprogrammed processing information hierarchy (110). The programmedprocessing information hierarchy (110) may be as originally provided bythe processing information hierarchy provider (102) or may be areorganized processing information hierarchy. In one or moreembodiments, a programmed processing information hierarchy (110) is aprocessing information hierarchy that has been programmed, directly orindirectly, by a processing information hierarchy manager (104).

While FIG. 1 shows a configuration of components, other configurationsmay be used without departing from the scope of embodiments describedherein. For example, there may be any number of processing informationhierarchy providers. As another example, there may be any number ofprocessing information hierarchy managers. As another example, there maybe any number of hardware components, software instances, etc. that arenot shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, embodiments disclosed herein shouldnot be limited to the configuration of components shown in FIG. 1.

To further clarify aspects of embodiments disclosed herein, a diagram ofan example processing information hierarchy in accordance with one ormore embodiments is shown in FIGS. 2.1-2.2. As discussed above, theexample processing information hierarchy may be a data structure thatincludes information that may be used to respond to receipt of a networkdata unit. For example, the example processing information hierarchy mayinclude information usable in connection with processing a network dataunit.

As seen from FIG. 2.1, the example processing information hierarchy mayinclude objects, i.e., processing information hierarchy object. Some ofthe objects may be linked to other objects as indicated by the arrowswhich may represent pointers.

To utilize the hierarchy, a network data unit may be matched to one ofthe first level objects (e.g., 202, 204, 206). The example processinginformation hierarchy may then be traversed, starting from the matchedfirst level object. When traversing the example processing informationhierarchy, actions may be performed and information may be obtained fromone or more of the traversed objects. The traversal path may beidentified via the arrows between each of the objects. Once traversed,appropriate information may be obtained and/or actions may have beenperformed to enable a hardware component programmed with the exampleprocessing information hierarchy to complete a desired task, e.g.,processing a network data unit.

For example, consider a scenario in which first level object A (202) ismatched based on characteristics of a network data unit. To traverse theexample processing information hierarchy, actions and/or informationassociated with the first level object A (202) may beperformed/obtained. Next, a traversal to the second level object B (212)is performed. Once traversed to the second level object B (212), actionsand/or information associated with the second level object B (212) maybe performed/obtained.

Here, second level object A (210) may require making a decision withrespect to next traversing to third level object A (220) or third levelobject B (222) as indicated by the arrows between the second levelobject A (210) and the aforementioned third level objects. Second levelobject A (210) may include information that enables the traversaldecision to be made (e.g., may include information to which acharacteristic of the network data unit may be matched to make thetraversal decision).

After making the traversal decision, traversal to the third level objectA (220) or third level object B (222) may be performed based on thedecision. This process may be repeated until an object (e.g., fourthlevel object A (240)) that is not linked to another object is reachedand/or sufficient information and/or actions have been performed for thehardware component to complete a predetermined objective.

As seen from FIG. 2.1, when a processing information hierarchy providerprovides a processing information hierarchy, the provided processinginformation hierarchy may include any number of objects. The providedprocessing information hierarchy may be highly functional in that itenables predetermined objectives to be performed but at the cost ofhaving a structure that consumes more resources of hardware componentsfor implementing the predetermined objectives than other structures.

Continuing with the example processing information hierarchy in FIG. 2.1and referring to FIG. 2.2, the traversal of the processing informationhierarchy via an order set of processing information hierarchy objectsmay be referred to as a processing path. For example, as shown in FIG.2.2, there are two processing paths—Processing Path A and ProcessingPath B. Processing Path A includes first level object A (202), secondlevel object A (210), third level object A (220), and fourth levelobject A (240). Processing Path B includes first level object A (202),second level object A (210), third level object B (222), and fourthlevel object B (242).

In one embodiment of the invention, the reorganization of the processinginformation hierarchy includes identifying: (i) duplicate (orduplicative) paths or portions thereof (i.e., one or more processinginformation objects, which may or may not be consecutively ordered, seee.g., FIGS. 5.1-5.2) and (ii) redundant processing information hierarchyobjects. A duplicative portion refers to a portion of a first processingpath that is identical to at least one portion of a second processingpath. Two paths may include zero, one, or more duplicative portions. Inscenarios in which two paths have two or more duplicative portions, theduplicative portions in each path may be separated by at least onenon-duplicative portion.

A redundant processing information hierarchy object is a processinginformation object in a processing path that does not need to beperformed and where its non-performance does not impact the result oftraversing the processing path. Said another way, the result oftraversing a first processing path that includes the redundantprocessing information hierarchy object and the result of traversing asecond processing path (which is the same as the first processing pathexcept that it does not include the redundant processing informationhierarchy object) is the same. A given processing path may include zero,one, or more redundant processing information hierarchy objects.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart describing a method for deduplicating aProcessing Information Hierarchy in accordance with one or moreembodiments disclosed herein.

While the various steps in the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 are presentedand described sequentially, one of ordinary skill in the relevant art,having the benefit of this Detailed Description, will appreciate thatsome or all of the steps may be executed in different orders, that someor all of the steps may be combined or omitted, and/or that some or allof the steps may be executed in parallel.

In step 300, a processing information hierarchy is obtained from aprocessing information hierarchy provider. In one or more embodiments,the processing information hierarchy is obtained by a processinginformation hierarchy manager. For example, the processing informationhierarchy may be obtained by the processing information hierarchymanager from the processing information provider using inter-processcommunication.

In Step 302, the processing paths in the processing informationhierarchy are analyzed to identify duplicative and/or redundantportions. With respect to identification of duplicative portions, foreach identified processing path, a set of portions of the processingpath are determined and then compared to portions of all otheridentified processing paths. In this manner, all portions (which mayinclude zero, one, or more processing information hierarchy objects) ofa given processing path are compared to all portions of the otherprocessing paths in order to determine whether there are any duplicativeportions. Any duplicative portions that are encountered are tracked inorder that this information may be used in step 306. Other methods maybe used for identifying redundant portions without departing from theinvention.

With respect to identification of redundant portions, each of theprocessing paths is individually analyzed to determine whether anyportion(s) (which may include zero, one, or more processing informationhierarchy objects) may be removed from the processing path withoutimpacting the result when the processing path is traversed without theportion(s). The identification of redundant portions may be based onpreviously identified portions that are known to be redundant. In thisscenario, if a portion of a given processing path matches a previouslyidentified portion that is known to be redundant, then the portion inthe processing path is identified as being redundant. Any redundantportions that are encountered are tracked in order that this informationmay be used in step 306. Other methods may be used for identifyingredundant portions without departing from the invention.

In step 304, a determination is made about whether the analysis in step302 identified any duplicative and/or redundant portions. If duplicativeand/or redundant portions were identified, the process proceeds to step306; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 308.

In Step 306, the processing information hierarchy obtained is step 300(also referred to as the original processing information hierarchy) isreorganized. The reorganization may include: (i) removing all redundantportions (if any were identified), (ii) removing all but one portion ofthe duplicate (or duplicative) portions (if any duplicative portionswere identified), and (iii) linking the remaining processing informationhierarchy objects after (i) and (ii) are performed.

Linking the remaining processing information hierarchy objects isperformed in a manner that ensures that (i) the processing paths in theoriginal processing information hierarchy are present in the reorganizedprocessing information hierarchy and/or (ii) the processing paths in thereorganized processing information hierarchy generate the same result asthe corresponding processing path in the original information hierarchy.With respect to (ii), depending on which processing informationhierarchy objects need to be linked together, one or more additionalprocessing information objects may need to be created and inserted intothe reorganized processing information hierarchy. The additionalprocessing information objects may include a consolidated object and abidirectional informational object. A consolidated object is aprocessing information hierarchy object that is referenced by two ormore higher level processing information objects (see e.g., FIG. 4.2.480). A bidirectional object is a processing information hierarchyobject that includes traversing to a lower level processing informationhierarchy object and then traversing to a higher level processinginformation hierarchy object (see e.g., FIG. 5.2, Bidirectional ObjectA).

Other methods for generating the reorganized processing informationhierarchy may be used without departing from the invention.

In Step 308, a hardware component is programmed based on the originalprocessing information hierarchy (if the method proceeded directly fromstep 304 to 308) or based on the reorganized processing informationhierarchy (if the method includes performing step 306). In one or moreembodiments, programming a processing information hierarchy may includestoring the original or reorganized processing information hierarchy instorage of the hardware component as a programmed processing informationhierarchy. For example, the processing information hierarchy may berepresented as any number of tables based on corresponding processinginformation hierarchy objects. The tables may be linked (e.g., asillustrated in FIG. 2.1) using pointers. Such tables may, for example,be stored in hardware tables of the hardware component.

The method may end following Step 308.

Example 1

To further clarify aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, anexample of deduplicating, reorganizing, and programming a processinginformation hierarchy is shown in FIGS. 4.1-4.2. The following exampleis for explanatory purposes only and not intended to limit the scope ofembodiments described herein. Additionally, while the example showscertain aspects of embodiments described herein, all possible aspects ofsuch embodiments may not be illustrated in this particular example.

FIG. 4.1 shows a diagram of a processing information hierarchy inaccordance with embodiments disclosed herein. As seen from FIG. 4.1, theprocessing information hierarchy includes a first level object A (400),which is a highest level object, and a second level object A (410) whichdepends from the first level object A (400). A first dependency tree(470) depends from the second level object A (410). The first dependencytree includes a number of objects divided into a first branch (e.g.,420, 430, 450) and a second branch (e.g., 422, 432, 452).

The processing information hierarchy further includes a first levelobject C (402) and a second level object C (412) which depends from thefirst level object C (402). A second dependency tree (472) depends fromthe second level object C (412). The second dependency tree (472)includes a number of objects divided into a first branch (e.g., 424,434, 454) and a second branch (e.g., 426, 436, 456). The aforementionedprocessing information hierarchy objects are organized into fourprocessing paths in the processing information hierarchy.

Consider a scenario in which the second level object A (410) and thefirst dependency tree (470) are identical to the second level object C(412) and the second dependency tree (472). In such a scenario, via themethod illustrated in FIG. 3, a processing information hierarchy manageridentifies the second level objects along with the dependencies trees(470, 472) as being duplicative objects (460A, 460B).

Based on the identification, the processing hierarchy managerdeduplicates the objects of the processing information hierarchy. FIG.4.2 shows a diagram of the resulting reorganized processing informationhierarchy. As seen from FIG. 4.2, the processing information hierarchymanager reorganized the processing information hierarchy to be adding aconsolidated object (480) and a consolidated dependency tree (482);removing the second level objects and the dependency trees of FIG. 4.1;and modifying the first level object C (402) to point to theconsolidated object (480) rather than the now removed second levelobject C (412). By doing so, the total number of objects to beprogrammed into a hardware component is greatly reduced withoutcompromising the behavior of a hardware device programmed using thereorganized processing information hierarchy when compared to thebehavior of the hardware device programmed using the processinginformation hierarchy shown in FIG. 4.1.

In this case, the consolidated object (480) is identical to the secondlevel object A and the consolidated dependency tree (482) is identicalto the first dependency tree (470). Consequently, the consolidatedobject (480) and the consolidated dependency tree (482) may be generatedby removing the second level object C (412) and the second dependencytree (472).

End of Example 1 Example 2

To further clarify aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, anexample of deduplicating, removing redundant processing informationobjects, reorganizing, and programming a processing informationhierarchy is shown in FIGS. 5.1-5.2. The following example is forexplanatory purposes only and not intended to limit the scope ofembodiments described herein. Additionally, while the example showscertain aspects of embodiments described herein, all possible aspects ofsuch embodiments may not be illustrated in this particular example.

Turning to FIG. 5.1, the processing information hierarchy includes eightprocessing paths (processing path A-H). The processing informationhierarchy objects associated with each of the processing paths issummarized below in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Processing Paths Processing Information Hierarchy ProcessingPath Objects in Processing Path A L3 Address A, ECMP A, Entry A, LabelA, L2 Address A B L3 Address A, ECMP A, Entry B, Label A, L2 Address B CL3 Address B, ECMP B, Entry C, Label B, L2 Address A D L3 Address B,ECMP B, Entry D, Label B, L2 Address B E Label A (Matching), ECMP C,Entry E, Label A, L2 Address A F Label A (Matching), ECMP C, Entry F,Label A, L2 Address B G Label B (Matching), ECMP D, Entry G, Label B, L2Address A H Label B (Matching), ECMP D, Entry H, Label B, L2 Address B

The processing information hierarchy is analyzed in accordance with themethods shown in FIG. 3 to identify the following duplicative processinginformation hierarchy objects. Specifically, [ECMP A, Entry A, L2Address A] is duplicative of [ECMP B, Entry C, L2 Address A], [ECMP C,Entry E, L2 Address A], and [ECMP D, Entry G, L2 Address A]. Further,[ECMP A, Entry B, L2 Address B] is duplicative of [ECMP B, Entry D, L2Address B], [ECMP C, Entry F, L2 Address B], and [ECMP D, Entry H, L2Address B].

In addition to the duplicative processing hierarchy objects, theprocessing paths are analyzed to determine whether there are anyredundant processing information hierarchy objects. In this example,Processing Path E, Label A that directly precedes L2 Address A isdetermined to be redundant as it results in a swap to the same label(i.e., Label A). Said another way, Processing Path E includes analyzingnetwork traffic data units to determine whether its label matches LabelA. If there is a match to Label A, then Label A already exists in thenetwork traffic data units and no labeling swapping is required to beperformed on this network traffic data units as the swap would result inLabel A being removed and then rewritten to the network traffic dataunits. Accordingly, the processing information hierarchy object that isassociated with the rewriting Label A is redundant. In addition,similarly situated processing information hierarchy objects related toLabels A and B in Processing Paths F, G, and H are also determined to beredundant.

Referring to FIG. 5.2, based on the analysis of the processinginformation hierarchy in FIG. 5.1, a reorganized processing informationhierarchy is generated as shown in FIG. 5.2. Specifically, thereorganized processing information hierarchy does not include any of theredundant processing information hierarchy objects identified in FIG.5.1. Further, the ECMP object and the related entry objects areconsolidated into a single ECMP object that branches to Entry A andEntry B, which ultimately link to L2 Address A and L2 Address B,respectively. Because the ECMP processing across all processing paths inFIG. 5.1 is the same, a single set of processing information hierarchyobjects may be used to handle ECMP processing across all processingpaths. Moreover, because the subset of the processing paths require bothECMP processing and the insertion of a label (i.e., Label A or Label B),two bi-directional processing information hierarchy objects are createdto permit insertion of a label following by the common ECMP processing.

As noted above, the reorganization of the processing informationhierarchy should not change how the network traffic data units areprocessed across the various processing paths. To that end, thereorganized processing information hierarchy shown in FIG. 5.2 includesthe same number of processing paths as FIG. 5.1, which perform the sameprocessing of network traffic data units. Table 2 shows the processingpaths in the reorganized processing information hierarchy, which map tothe processing paths in the processing information hierarchy of FIG. 5.1

TABLE 2 Processing Paths in Reorganized Processing Information HierarchyProcessing Information Hierarchy Objects in Reorganized ProcessingProcessing Path Path A L3 Address A, Bidirectional Object A, Label A,Consolidated ECMP, Entry A, L2 Address A B L3 Address A, BidirectionalObject A, Label A, Consolidated ECMP, Entry B, L2 Address B C L3 AddressB, Bidirectional Object B, Label B, Consolidated ECMP, Entry A, L2Address A D L3 Address B, Bidirectional Object B, Label B, ConsolidatedECMP, Entry B, L2 Address B E Label A, Consolidated ECMP, Entry A, L2Address A F Label A, Consolidated ECMP, Entry B, L2 Address B G Label B,Consolidated ECMP, Entry A, L2 Address A H Label B, Consolidated ECMP,Entry B, L2 Address B

As shown in Table 2, the reorganized processing information hierarchypreserves the processing paths of the processing information hierarchy.However, the reorganized processing information hierarchy only requires13 processing information hierarchy objects as compared to the 32processing information hierarchy objects required by the originalprocessing information hierarchy.

End of Example 2

While embodiments described herein have been described with respect to alimited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefitof this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can bedevised which do not depart from the scope of embodiments describedherein as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the scope of embodimentsdescribed herein should be limited only by the attached claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A network device, comprising: a hardwarecomponent; and a processing information hierarchy manager to: obtain aprocessing information hierarchy; make a determination that theprocessing information hierarchy comprises a duplication or aredundancy; reorganize the processing information hierarchy based on thedetermination to obtain a reorganized processing information hierarchy;and program the processing information hierarchy into the hardwarecomponent.
 2. The network device of claim 1, wherein: the duplicationindicates that a first processing information hierarchy object of theprocessing information hierarchy is identical to a second processinginformation hierarchy object of the processing information hierarchy,and reorganizing the processing information hierarchy in the hardwarecomponent comprises removing the first processing information hierarchyobject or the second processing information hierarchy object.
 3. Thenetwork device of claim 1, wherein the processing information hierarchycomprises a plurality of processing paths and an order of the processinginformation hierarchy objects in at least one of the plurality ofprocessing paths is modified during the reorganization of the processinginformation hierarchy.
 4. The network device of claim 1, wherein theprocessing information hierarchy comprises a plurality of processingpaths and wherein the reorganized processing information hierarchypreserves processing associated with the plurality of processing pathsin the processing information hierarchy.
 5. The network device of claim1, wherein the processing information hierarchy comprises a redundancywhen at least one processing information hierarchy object in at leastone processing path in the processing information hierarchy may beremoved without impacting a result of processing a network traffic dataunit.
 6. The network device of claim 1, wherein the duplicationindicates that a first portion of a first processing path is identicalto a second portion of a second processing path in the processinginformation hierarchy.
 7. The network device of claim 6, wherein thefirst portion is a contiguous portion of the first processing path. 8.The network device of claim 6, wherein the first portion comprisingnon-contiguous processing information hierarchy objects of the firstprocessing path.
 9. A method, comprising: obtaining a processinginformation hierarchy; making a determination that the processinginformation hierarchy comprises a duplication or a redundancy;reorganizing the processing information hierarchy based on thedetermination to obtain a reorganized processing information hierarchy;and programming the processing information hierarchy into the hardwarecomponent.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein: the duplication indicatesthat a first processing information hierarchy object of the processinginformation hierarchy is identical to a second processing informationhierarchy object of the processing information hierarchy, andreorganizing the processing information hierarchy in the hardwarecomponent comprises removing the first processing information hierarchyobject or the second processing information hierarchy object.
 11. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the processing information hierarchycomprises a plurality of processing paths and an order of the processinginformation hierarchy objects in at least one of the plurality ofprocessing paths is modified during the reorganization of the processinginformation hierarchy.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the processinginformation hierarchy comprises a plurality of processing paths andwherein the reorganized processing information hierarchy preservesprocessing associated with the plurality of processing paths in theprocessing information hierarchy.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein theprocessing information hierarchy comprises a redundancy when at leastone processing information hierarchy object in at least one processingpath in the processing information hierarchy may be removed withoutimpacting a result of processing a network traffic data unit.
 14. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the duplication indicates that a firstportion of a first processing path is identical to a second portion of asecond processing path in the processing information hierarchy.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the first portion is a contiguous portion ofthe first processing path.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the firstportion comprising non-contiguous processing information hierarchyobjects of the first processing path.
 17. A non-transitory computerreadable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by aprocessor, perform a method, the method comprising: obtaining aprocessing information hierarchy; making a determination that theprocessing information hierarchy comprises a duplication or aredundancy; reorganizing the processing information hierarchy based onthe determination to obtain a reorganized processing informationhierarchy; and programming the processing information hierarchy into thehardware component.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 17, wherein the processing information hierarchy comprises aplurality of processing paths and an order of the processing informationhierarchy objects in at least one of the plurality of processing pathsis modified during the reorganization of the processing informationhierarchy.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17,wherein the processing information hierarchy comprises a plurality ofprocessing paths and wherein the reorganized processing informationhierarchy preserves processing associated with the plurality ofprocessing paths in the processing information hierarchy.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein theprocessing information hierarchy comprises a redundancy when at leastone processing information hierarchy object in at least one processingpath in the processing information hierarchy may be removed withoutimpacting a result of processing a network traffic data unit.
 21. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein theduplication indicates that a first portion of a first processing path isidentical to a second portion of a second processing path in theprocessing information hierarchy.
 22. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 21, wherein the first portion is a contiguousportion of the first processing path.
 23. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 21, wherein the first portion comprisingnon-contiguous processing information hierarchy objects of the firstprocessing path.